Badges in Social Media: A Social Psychological Perspective Abstract Representing achievements as badges or trophies is a standard practice in online gaming. Awarding badges has also become a key ingredient in ���gamifying��� online social media experiences. Social systems such as Foursquare, StackOverflow, and Wikipedia have popularized badges as a way of engaging and motivating users. In this paper we deconstruct badges and present five social psychological functions for badges in social media contexts: goal setting, instruction, reputation, status/affirmation, and group identification. We argue that future research should further explore these five functions and their application in specific contexts. Keywords Badges, achievements, rewards, motivation, social psychology, social media, gamification ACM Classification Keywords H.5.m Information interfaces and presentation (e.g. HCI):Miscellaneous General Terms Human Factors Introduction In the context of online social media, badges are ���virtual goods��� ��� digital artifacts that have some visual representation ��� which are awarded to users who Copyright is held by the author/owner(s). CHI 2011, May 7���12, 2011, Vancouver, BC, Canada. ACM 978-1-4503-0268-5/11/05. Judd Antin Internet Experiences Group Yahoo! Research 4401 Great America Pkwy. Santa Clara, CA 95054 jantin@yahoo-inc.com Elizabeth F. Churchill Internet Experiences Group Yahoo! Research 4401 Great America Pkwy. Santa Clara, CA 95054 churchill@acm.org

2 complete specific activities. Badges have been closely associated with online gaming but also have a long history outside of gaming. In ancient Rome, military heroes were honored with medals adored with the face of Caesar. Closer to home, the Boy Scouts of America���s iconic merit badges promote the acquisition of specific skill-sets as diverse as nuclear science and basketry. One of the first large-scale implementations of badges in online games began in 2002 with Microsoft���s Xbox Live service. Since that time, badges have become a fixture in many games. Notable implementations of badges in social media include Wikipedia���s ���Barnstars��� which allow users to award each other for doing valued work [8], Q & A site StackOverflow���s system of badges to encourage productive participation, and FourSquare���s implementation of badges to promote location-sharing via ���check-ins.��� The Social Psychology of Badges Although badges are in widespread use in social media, relatively little research has been devoted to understanding how or why they are valuable and useful. While badges can be fun and interesting, these qualities do not inherently produce social engagement or enhance motivation. We argue that badges can serve several individual and social functions depending on the nature of the activities that a badge rewards and the application of badges in particular contexts. In the tradition of combining HCI and psychology [11], we present five primary functions for achievements and give examples of each. 1 Goal Setting Perhaps the most obvious function of badges is as a goal-setting device. Badges challenge users to meet the mark that is set for them. Goal setting is known to be an effective motivator, and experimental studies have illustrated that the most motivating goals are those that are just out of comfortable reach [9]. Research also suggests that individuals sometimes ���consume��� goals and the experience of striving for them, even at the expense of consuming physical goods. This phenomenon, which Ariely and Norton call ���conceptual consumption��� [1], means that the fun and interest of goal seeking is often the primary reward itself. The notion of conceptual consumption is essential to understanding badges because, of course, ultimately the user is left with no physical goods, only the experience and memory which is embodied by a badge. Two additional aspects of goal setting are also essential to mention. First, the goals presented in a badge are not always explicit, either because system designers choose only to adumbrate2 how to earn a badge or because the necessary activities are subjective or imprecisely defined. Secondly, goal setting is most effective when users can see their progress towards the goal. Without signposts to mark the way, there is little or no feedback to keep users moving in the right direction. Furthermore, people often escalate their efforts when they know they are near their goal [5]. Instruction Badges can provide instruction about what types of activity are possible within a given system [10]. This function is useful for indoctrinating new users, but also for helping silo���d users diversify their participation. Badges often embody the social norms of a system by exemplifying the types of activities and interactions that are highly valued [8], and in so doing provide a kind of social shaping of user activities. Through their Very Verbal That���s quite a vocabulary you���ve got there! CHI Stars You cited a big-wig from the CHI community! 1. 2.